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Monday, February 6, 2012

NY Times, February 5, 2012 article about Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook addresses her chosen mission as role model for women in business and technology. Promoting women is the cause. Her message for women, aim high and keep your foot on the gas pedal.
Here's a link to a speech she made in 2011 to a group of women in technology.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMVCSrm65kg

Sandberg, a Harvard undergrad and business school graduate, is married with two young children, plenty of money, great job history and lots of contacts, connections, and fans. She also has critics who, while admiring of her talents, question the reality and validity of of her message. They cite her unusual circumstances, plus luck, as factors that the average bright, techie women can't easily duplicate, even with the gas pedal pushed to the floor.

My opinion? So what if her rise to power, money and prominence (will she run for political office?) has been propelled in part by luck, good presentation and relationship skills as well as smarts? All women interested in computing and high tech won't have the same stuff, but they may have other assets that Sandberg doesn't have.

I'm all for her. She's not anti-men. She's not pro all women for general reasons of equality. She's pro tech women for strategic reasons. Sandberg can inspire, motivate, support, push, and promote women who choose to aim high and achieve. They can't do it the same way she did — and may not even want to — but they still can do it. How about high level, skilled female leaders in other sectors of the work world adapt the message to their field? Retail, banking, manufacturing, finance etc.

WELCOME TO IWO!

It's the beginning of the third year of intelligentwomenonly.com I've started off with some retrospective posts as a reminder to me and you that this blog started out focused on understanding and eliminating negative self-talk. Not surprising since my current book project is Handbook #l for Intelligent Women: Break the Negative Self-Talk Habit.Strong beliefs underlie intelligentwomenonly.com posts:• Research based advice/suggestions/content contain more accurate facts and greater value than pop psychology.• Intelligent girls and women are more likely than intelligent boys and men to limit themselves because of their self-talk.• Negative self-talk is a bad habit, not a neurosis or psychosis. Unfortunately, it's normal in a majority of girls and women.

•The negative self-talk habit has to be eliminated before realistic (or positive thinking) can be learned and maintained.• Positive self-talk cannot create a positive reality even if the negative self-talk habit is broken.• Self-help approaches can work for changing thinking, feeling, and behavioral habits.In the next nine months of 2012, I would love to be able to tell you that the book will be published this year or next. In the meantime I've become intrigued with new brain research about thinking and emotions, particularly applicable and useful for and to women. I'll post no more about gender differences, unless they're wildly interesting, and more about intelligent women's psychology, thinking, feelings, and out front actions. I've added a new red subject box, Writers and Writing, targeted specifically for writers, of course!

I'm still looking for some controversy, disagreement, new information from readers. I'm open to your thoughts about what you'd like to hear more about — or less about!Please send me your comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms — all of you intelligent women out there!